Aunt Em
Origin Em spent most of her life working on farms. When she first came to Kansas with her husband, she was a young, pretty wife but, the sun and wind took the sparkle from her eyes and the red from her cheeks and lips, leaving them as gray as the surrounding prairie. She raised chickens for nearly forty years. Henry was a farmer who worked hard morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray from his long beard to his rough boots. When his house in Kansas was carried off to the Land of Oz by a cyclone, Henry mortgaged his farm in order to rebuild. This crisis, combined with the stress of Dorothy's prolonged disappearance and sudden reappearance, took a toll on his health, and his doctor ordered him to take a vacation. He took Dorothy with him on an ocean voyage to Australia, where he had cousins, but during this trip Dorothy was lost again during a storm, and for several weeks Henry believed she had drowned. She suddenly returned again, courtesy of the Nome King's Magic Belt. On their return to America, Henry visited a relative of his wife, while Dorothy stayed with friends in San Francisco. While traveling to meet him, Dorothy was lost in an earthquake and thought to be dead. Henry traveled back to Kansas alone, where Dorothy later reappeared after having enjoyed another adventure to the Land of Oz. Eventually, the cost of the cyclone damage and the travel expenses added up and Henry and Em confessed to Dorothy that their farm was facing imminent foreclosure so the three of them all moved to the Land of Oz to live in the Emerald City. Princess Ozma gave them a suite of rooms and appointed Em "Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz" and Henry was given the job of "Keeper of the Jewels" in Ozma's treasure hoard for the purpose of keeping them occupied. Public Domain Appearances Book: *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz *Ozma of Oz (Henry only) *The Emerald City of Oz *The Scarecrow of Oz *The Magic of Oz *Glinda of Oz (Henry only) Film: *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) Notes *Aunt Em has been featured slightly less than Uncle Henry in the Oz Books, despite having a bigger role in The Wizard of Oz and was named after Emily Ingerson *Aunt Em" Warn. Warn's niece was a cousin of L. Frank Baum. *Although commonly believed to be Gale, their last name is never given in any of the books (and, indeed, there is more evidence to suggest Henry was Dorothy's mother's brother which, provided Dorothy's parents were married at the time of her birth which would have been likely given the times, would mean "Gale" would have been her father's last name). **Also: While "Gale" is popularly accepted as her last name, Baum never stated that outright in any medium. In fact: the name "Gale" never appeared in any of Baum's written works: he only used it in his 1902 stage production! When asked her name, Dorothy merely replies, "I'm Dorothy... Dorothy Gale," leaving it open to ambiguity: Was "Gale" her last name or her middle name or the second part of her first name (ex: girls named "Anne... Anne Marie" or "Peggy... Peggy Sue" etc.)? ***Interesting to note (hence this being in the "Notes" section): a "gale" is a very strong wind. *Similarly, some sites state Em's full name as "Emily Brown" however, "Em" has never been confirmed as short for "Emily" (or anything at all for that matter) and, as stated above, no last name is ever given. See Also *Uncle Henry & Aunt Em @ the Oz Wiki *Uncle Henry & Aunt Em @ Comic Vine *Aunt Em & Uncle Henry @ the Disney Wiki *Aunt Em @ the Once Upon a Time Wiki Category:Literary Characters Category:Duos Category:1900 Debuts Category:Wizard of Oz Characters Category:Reilly & Britton Characters Category:L. Frank Baum - Creator Category:Muppet Characters Category:MGM Characters Category:Gale Family Characters Category:Comic Book Characters Category:Marvel Characters Category:IDW Characters Category:Manga / Anime Characters Category:Antarctic Press Characters Category:Movie Characters Category:Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Characters Category:Disney Characters Category:Elderly Characters Category:Animated Characters Category:Immortal Characters Category:Surname Unknown Category:DC Characters Category:Vertigo Characters Category:Fables Characters Category:Film Serial Characters Category:W.W. Denslow - Creator Category:Television Characters Category:Once Upon a Time Characters Category:ABC Characters Category:Hugson Family Characters Category:Universal Studios Character